Digital Camera News, 2/13/08

Panasonic set to release high-speed 32GB SDHC

If you've been waiting eagerly for a 32GB SDHC card with Class 6 transfer speed, the wait is almost over. Panasonic is set to release what promises to the world's fastest 32 gig SDHC when it debuts in April.

Advertising transfer speeds of up to 20 MB/second, the new card should have the most appeal for HD camcorder users, supporting up to 12 hours of video at 1440x1080i. This capacity translates to a little more than 12,300 10-megapixel still images, meaning that casual shooters might never have to empty the card during their entire lifetime (or certainly, the lifetime of most compact digital cameras). 

Not surprisingly, all of this obscene capacity comes at an obscene price: suggested retail for the new card has been set at $699.

The end of the Polaroid instant film camera era?

On Monday, the news site PhotographyBlog reported that, based on several reports appearing on the web, it looks like Polaroid is getting out of the film business.

Polaroid's COO is quoted in the story as saying that production has ceased on the company's consumer line of instant cameras.

As several analysts and journalists have observed, the move seems oddly timed for Polaroid, given the company's relative obscurity in the digital camera world – where they will now be allegedly focusing the bulk of their efforts.

Read the full story here.

Apple releases Aperture 2 editing suite

In a press release yesterday, Apple announced the immediate availability of an updated version of Aperture, the company's image workflow and RAW conversion software.

The new version promises several new and updated features, including highlight recovery and RAW fine-tuning tools. Speed is also supposed to be improved over the most recent update of the original package.

Once upon a time, there were rumors that Aperture would come to PCs, but if this is still in the works it hasn't happened with this update. Perhaps the success of Adobe's competitive Lightroom package has closed this door.

Announced pricing is $199 for a new install, or $99 for an upgrade-only copy. Given that the original release of Aperture retailed at $499, Aperture 2 hits the streets as a relative bargain in the image editing world. Get your copy, if you're so inclined, directly from Apple online, or from one of their retail stores or authorized resellers.